The Lincoln Continental, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Toyota Avalon come out at the top of a group of six large cars recently evaluated by IIHS and earn the Top Safety Pick+ award. The Tesla Model S, the Chevrolet Impala and the Ford Taurus come up short.

The Mini Cooper Countryman is the only small car to earn a good rating among the latest group of 12 small cars subjected to the small overlap front test. Five cars, all 2014 models, earn an acceptable rating and six earn marginal or poor.

Only 1 minicar out of 11 tested achieves an acceptable rating in the small overlap front crash test. Minicars are the worst performing group of any that IIHS has evaluated in the small overlap test program so far.

Twenty-two vehicles earn the Institute's highest safety award for 2014, Top Safety Pick+, thanks to a high level of protection in crashes and the availability of front crash prevention technology to avoid many collisions in the first place. An additional 17 earn Top Safety Pick by meeting the crashworthiness criteria alone.

The latest small overlap front crash test results from the Institute reveal a range of performance among many of the best-selling small cars in the U.S. Of the 12 models evaluated, half earn a good or acceptable rating and qualify for the Top Safety Pick+ award.

The 2014 Subaru Forester is the first vehicle to ace every aspect of the challenging small overlap front crash test. The Forester and the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, which earns acceptable in the test, are the latest vehicles to qualify for the Institute's recently inaugurated top honor, Top Safety Pick+. Other tested small SUVs earn poor or marginal ratings for small overlap.

A group of moderately priced midsize cars outperformed most of their luxury counterparts in a challenging new frontal crash test conducted by IIHS on 2013 models. Of the 18 midsize family cars evaluated in the small overlap test, two earn the top rating of good, 11 earn acceptable, three earn marginal, and two are poor.

Only 3 of 11 midsize luxury and near-luxury cars evaluated earn good or acceptable ratings in the Institute's new small overlap frontal crash test, the latest addition to a suite of tests designed to help consumers pick the safest vehicles.

Drivers of vehicles that perform well in the Institute's side-impact crash test are much less likely to die in a real-world left-side crash than drivers of vehicles that do poorly, a new analysis finds. The study includes only passenger vehicles with side airbags, demonstrating that airbags, while crucial, are far from the whole story in side crash protection.

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Dodge Ram 1500 and Nissan Titan are billed as workhorses, but the side crash protection these 2009 model large pickups provide is wimpy, at best. The trio earns either poor or marginal ratings in IIHS side tests. Even with side airbags, occupant protection in these crew-cab pickups is no better than marginal.

The designs of passenger vehicles have been improving for years, becoming more protective of their occupants in crashes. Without these improvements, the motor vehicle death rate per registered vehicle would have stopped declining in 1994 and started going up.

Frontal offset crash tests conducted by IIHS since 1995 have prompted huge improvements in how vehicles protect people in frontal crashes. Now this consumer information program is undergoing a major change that will allow the Institute to focus on other types of crashes.

Drivers of vehicles that earn good ratings in the Institute's 40 mph frontal offset crash test are much less likely to die in serious frontal crashes out on the highways, compared with drivers of vehicles rated poor.

For the first time, IIHS has evaluated vehicles in side impact crash tests to provide consumer information. The best performers among the 12 small SUVs tested are the Subaru Forester and the Ford Escape with optional side airbags. In contrast, seven other small SUVs earned the lowest rating of poor. Two others are marginal, and one is acceptable.

The Institute's crashworthiness evaluations are based primarily on a vehicle's performance in a frontal offset crash test. In response to the performance of its vehicles in the latest round of tests, one automaker has criticized IIHS, claiming the test doesn't reflect real crashes. However, these criticisms are invalid.